Growing need for short term medical insurance in Washington state

Washington state residents faced a higher than usual risk of employement layoffs over this past year and this trend will continue into 2011, particularly among its younger workers. Exel already announced 146 permanent layoffs in Auburn for next month (January 2011) and International Paper will lay off another 78 in Bellevue.
Layoffs at commercial employers follow layoffs and other work reductions for state government employees. In April 2010 the state Legislature passed and Gov. Chris Gregoire signed into law Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6503 that was designed to reduce state government spending for employees, the law requires that state agencies close on the 10 days specified in the bill or submit an alternate compensation reduction plan for approval by the Office of Financial Management.
Last week Governor Chris Gregoire proposed deep budget cuts, including the elimination of the state's health insurance program for the poor in response to the state’s budget crisis. Marty Brown, director of the Office of Financial Management, says the state needs to cut $901 million in spending. Legislators likely will face a special session to deal with the state’s budget gap prior to the regular session in January.
These are typically candidates for low cost short term medical insurance during their position of transition as a more cost-effective alternative to COBRA. While most U.S. residents have a choice of several short term medical insurance plans, Washington residents have only one. Markel Insurance Company apparently is apparently the only commercial insurance provider who has applied and received consent from the state insurance department to offer these policies. Freedom Benefits Insurance Exchange recently reviewed this coverage. We have no concerns about this single payor system, since Markel has a longstanding reputation as a stable and reliable provider of specialty insurance.
Short term medical insurance can be issued immediately with an online application and coverage can extend to as long as 12 months.  While short term medical insurance is typically hassle-free, it does not cover the cost of treating pre-existing medical conditions and so is not appropriate for a person who has large ongoing medical costs. COBRA and other continuation plans, although more expensive, are a better option for high medical risk individuals.

Ford workers consider short term medical insurance

Ford Motor Company announced that it will offer short term medical insurance as part of a buyout retirement offer for almost all of its 41,000 hourly workers. The offer is intended to reduce the firm's factory work force. The New York Times reports that in the past Ford kept laid-off workers in a job bank rather than remove them from the payroll. This year, however, Ford is actively reducing its work force in anticipation of lower demand for cars in the future.

The short term medical insurance plan is a six month basic health insurance policy but the details of the coverage are not provided. Ford has not announced how many workers are expected to elect the buyout offer.

Considering the larger regional trend of employers hiring temporary workers and the shift toward individual health insurance (as opposed to employer-sponsored group insurance), some of these workers in the Detroit area are likely to consider alternate affordable health insurance options for the long term before deciding whether to accept the buyout package. Those who do not qualify for lower cost options could face higher health insurance costs through their state's high risk Blue Cross insurance pool.

HCC announces affiliation with Travel Insured International

In a press release dated 10/30/09, HCC Medical Insurance Services, LLC announced its new alliance with Travel Insured International. HCC Medical Insurance Services LLC is a leader in online health insurance products for international travelers and expatriates. Travel Insured International is a provider of travel insurance services such as trip cancellation, trip interruption and travel assistance services.


HCC Medical Insurance Services President Mark Carney is quoted  saying “We are very excited to announce our affiliation with Travel Insured International. In spite of the economic downturn, the international traveler and expatriate’s need for health insurance products continue to grow”.
Travel Insured International’s product portfolio will now include eight additional health insurance products that are already also available online at Freedom Benefits:

Atlas Travel Series – a short-term health policy for individuals traveling outside their home country

CitizenSecure(SM) – annually renewable major medical insurance with a term-life insurance option for individuals and families

StudentSecure(SM) – health coverage for international students and scholars studying abroad

IC+ International Term Life – term life insurance policy for individuals living outside the U.S. for up to 10 years

Other products offered by HCC Medical Insurance Services include: Atlas Group, Atlas Professional, CitizenSecureSM Economy, GroupSecureSM.

About Travel Insured International

Travel Insured International, based in East Hartford, CT, was founded in 1993 by the foresight of insurance industry executive Peter Gehris when he acquired the travel protection division of the Travelers Insurance Company. Travel Insured International delivers strong, affordable benefits in the customer’s choice of a broad range of travel plans, as well as group and customized protection programs. Travel Insured International has established and driven higher standards for policy quality and customer care.

About HCC Medical Insurance Services

The international products are administered by Indianapolis-based HCC Medical Insurance Services, LLC (HCCMIS), a recognized leader in international life and health insurance offering coverage to consumers in more than 130 countries. Through its staff and a worldwide network of distributors, HCCMIS provides quality and value to clients. The company is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to serve its clients worldwide. HCCMIS is a subsidiary of HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HCC), a leading international specialty insurance group headquartered in Houston, Texas. HCC has assets of $8.9 billion, shareholders’ equity of $2.8 billion and is rated AA (Very Strong) by Standard & Poor’s and AA (Very Strong) by Fitch Ratings. In addition, HCC’s major domestic insurance companies are rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company.

A closer look at Secure Short Term Medical Insurance

The brand name "Secure Short Term Medical" is one of the best-known and most highly regarded low cost health insurance plans in the U.S. The brand actually consists of four products that each target a specific group of consumers. The four products are: 1) Secure STM, 2) Secure Lite STM, 3) Secure 12x3 STM and 4) Secure Saver STM.

What makes this product lineup work so well? Probably not any one thing in particular but rather a combination of factors. We could make an analogy to an "all star lineup" in a sports team. First, the plan is administered by Health Plan Administrators, Inc., arguably one of the best service organizations in health care today. Second, The Standard Security Life Insurance Company of New York enjoys a strong reputation among insurance professionals and consumers.

Next is the length of coverage. This is the only insurance product that can adequately span a gap from just one month to 36 months of continuous coverage. With a growing number of consumers looking forward to post-reform insurance within a few years, the Secure 12x3 offers the flexible length of coverage they need del with the uncertainty of the health care reform timetable.

Eligibility for the four insurance plans is liberal so most applicants will qualify for coverage. In fact, in many cases this is one of the few options available to applicants who have been previously declined for health insurance with another company. The exceptions are listed in the "medical eligibility" section of the online product descriptions. It is important to realize that all short term medical insurance plans exclude coverage for pre-existing medical conditions. This is what makes them so affordable and easy to access.

Only one of the four products screens for weight or previous declines in determining eligibility. That is the Secure Saver, as we might expect, since it it the lowest cost plan with the least predictable out-of-pocket expenses.

Finally, we cannot ignore price. Despite all the talk about the quality of insurance the fact is that many consumers buy based primarily on price. The Secure Lite and Secure Saver rank among the least expensive major medical insurance choices in many parts of the country.

A comparison of the four Secure STM products is published at FreedomBenefits.net and a description of coverage and exclusions is available for each product. Although all of these policies come with a standard "10 day free look", generic sample policy certificates are also available online for all four products for those who want to take a closer look at these insurance options.

Celtic Insurance gains customers with low prices

Pricing of short term medical insurance tends to be more stable than managed care plans or other types of health insurance. As a result, pricing trends tend to develop more slowly and it may take longer for advisers and consumers to identify those companies with cost advantages. One such example is Celtic Insurance that has slowly and quietly winning over customers with its low rates and strong customer service. The coverage is priced and issued completely online at the company's secure enrollment site managed by ehealthinsurance.

Unemployment Health Insurance

One of the most painful parts of losing a job is having to deal with replacing your health insurance. Most people feel unprepared to select and enrolling in this type of health insurance even though most of us will have a handful of interruptions in employer-provided health insurance over our full working career. Employer-provided health insurance expires on the last day of the month of termination of employment. Enrollment in an unemployment health insurance is never automatic and must be addressed within a short time after termination of employment.

Types of coverage

While unemployment compensation is provided through the government, unemployment health insurance is provided through commercial health insurance companies. The term "unemployment health insurance" is generic and therefore may refer to one of several available insurance programs. Some people who work for larger companies have the option of continuing their same health insurance for up to 18 months by paying the full cost of this coverage plus an administrative fee. This is commonly known as COBRA coverage. In some cases a similar program called "individual conversion coverage" is available. In either case the burden of enrollment and full payment of premiums is solely the responsibility of the terminated employee. Despite the obvious advantages in simplicity and continuity of coverage, few people can afford this option.

The most popular type of unemployment health insurance is short term major medical insurance. Despite the name, this insurance can span several years or longer and eligibility requirements are minimal¹. This insurance offers flexibility with high coverage limits. Policies can be renewed month-to-month from one month to six or twelve months. The two most important features of this coverage are that it is valid with all doctors and hospitals in the U.S. (no network required) and it provides a Certificate of Creditable Coverage² to be used with your next employer's health insurance policy. This is important because it ensures that the new coverage immediately takes over the cost of treating pre-existing medical conditions.

Specialty insurance can be used in specific situations and regular individual major medical insurance is suitable when it is unlikely that there will be other employment in the future and the applicant is financially stable.

Shopping Tips

Plan to enroll in a bare-bones coverage rather than a fully loaded policy. Most people avoid incurring voluntary medical expenses while they are not employed so this insurance is primarily designed to cover large unexpected medical expenses. Also, because of the uncertainty of unemployment, it is smart to select an insurance that is less expensive than you think you can afford.

Short term medical insurance is priced at about 1/3 of the cost of your former insurance or COBRA option. For a typical employee, this means that the total cost of the unemployment health insurance will be approximately the same as the amount you were contributing to the employer's health plan through salary-deductions³. Using his guideline, it may be psychologically comforting and aid in your personal financial planning to know that the total out-of-pocket cost of health insurance remains relatively constant from the period of employment to the period of unemployment.

All of the following insurance products provide strong protection against catastrophic losses and provide a Certificate of Creditable Coverage to ensure payment for pre-existing medical conditions on your next employer-provided health insurance plan. The price of the coverage varies and some products are better suited for specific situations. We suggest narrowing the list to two or three choices and then get online quotes for each product.

Use the online enrollment options available. This is faster and safer than a paper application and offers immediate confirmation of coverage.

Insurance Choices

All of the following choices are available a MedSave.com. They are grouped according to price range although price varies from one person to another based on location of residence, age, and sex.

Lowest cost unemployment policies - Celtic Insurance STM and UnitedHealthOne Golden Rule Insurance STM are often the least expensive insurance plans to cover a gap in group health insurance. Some of these plans keep cost down by using a "per cause" deductible rather than a single policy deductible.

Mid-range unemployment policies - Secure 3x12 (36 month) short term medical insurance, and Health Savings Account qualified health insurance for long term coverage.

Higher priced unemployment policies - Blue Cross, Aetna, Cigna, CelticCare

Special Situations

When specific medical conditions or circumstances exist then additional sources should be checked to determine the best coverage options. The special situations are: 1) when significant medical conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol exists, 2) applicant is a resident of MA, NJ, NY or VT, 3)non-US citizens, 4) residing in the U.S. les than a year, 5) previously declined for health insurance coverage, 6) applicant is overweight or 7) coverage is needed outside of the U.S. In all of these cases, see the article titles "Short Term Medical Insurance for Special Situations".

Individual help in selecting the best value insurance is available through OnlineAdviser at onlineadviser@short-term-medical-insurance.com.

Footnotes

¹ See the article "Am I Eligible for Short Term Medical Insurance" and "How Long Can I Be Covered by Short Term Medical Insurance" for details.

² See the article "Understanding a Certificate of Creditable Coverage" for more information.

³ This assumes that the average employee contribution for employer-provided coverage is about 40% of the total cost.

Recession impacts health insurance

An artice in Time (November 13, 2008) predicts that the number of uninsured Americans will rise sharply to above 50 million within the next few months. This pessimistic prediction assumes that many employers will drop their group health plans to combat the recession by the end of the 2008 calendar year and that many of these individuals will not obtain alternate health insurance on their own. The prediction also assumes that employers would drop health coverage altogether rather than switch to one of the low cost limited beneft plans now available. We see no reason to support these assumptions.

The number of uninsureds has actually decreased slightly over the past two years as more affordable insurance plans have been introduced to the market according to our "Covering the Unisured: 2008 Update" report. The cost of employer provided health insurance coverage for an employee without dependents is about $6,000 per year and COBRA coverage cost slightly more. But the cost of individually purchased short term medical insurance averages only about $1,800 per year. About 72% of Americans currently qualify for this type of low cost short term medical insurance. (Short term medical insurance is not available to the residents of four states or individuals with serious pre-existing medical conditions).

Given this viable and affordable alternate coverage possibility, it seems unlikely that more than an additional four million people would choose to go without any health insurance in 2009.